Solar Calculator Glossary

apparent sunrise/sunset - Due to atmospheric refraction, sunrise occurs
shortly before the sun crosses above the horizon. Light from
the sun is bent, or refracted, as it enters earth's atmosphere. See Apparent Sunrise Figure.
This effect causes the apparent sunrise to be earlier than the actual
sunrise. Similarly, apparent sunset occurs slightly later than actual sunset.
The sunrise and sunset times reported in our calculator have been corrected
for the approximate effects of atmospheric refraction. However, it should
be noted that due to changes in air pressure, relative humidity, and other
quantities, we cannot predict the exact effects of atmospheric refraction
on sunrise and sunset time. Also note that this possible error increases
with higher (closer to the poles) latitudes.

atmospheric refraction - as light from the sun (or another celestial
body) travels from the vacuum of space into Earth's atmosphere, the path of
the light is bent due to refraction. This causes
stars and planets near the horizon to appear higher in the sky than they
actually are, and explains how the sun can still be visible after it has
physically passed beyond the horizon at sunset. See also apparent sunrise. Click here for agraph of atmospheric refraction vs. elevation.

astronomical unit (AU) - the mean (average) distance from Earth
to the sun. Approximately 92,957,210 miles.

azimuth and elevation - an angular coordinate system for locating
positions in the sky. Azimuth is measured clockwise from true north
to the point on the horizon
directly below the object. Elevation is measured vertically from that
point on the horizon up to the object. If you know the azimuth of a
constellation is 135° from north, and the elevation is 30°,
you can look toward the southeast, about a third of the way up from the
horizon to locate that constellation. Because our planet rotates, azimuth
and elevation numbers for stars and planets are constantly changing with
time and with the observer's location on earth. See Azimuth/Elevation/Zenith Figure.

C

calibration - the process of comparing a field instrument to a
measurement standard, in order to insure the instrument is reading the
correct values. All measuring devices (scales, volt meters, theodolytes)
must be calibrated to a standard before they can be used with any
certainty.
celestial sphere - an imaginary spherical
"movie screen" upon which all stars, planets, and other bodies in space
can be thought of as being projected. Coordinates on the celestial sphere are
specified in degrees of declination and
right ascension, roughly analogous to latitude and longitude coordinates on Earth's surface. SeeCelestial Sphere Figure. astronomical twilight
and nautical twilight.
civil twilight - the time of morning or evening when the sun is
6&deg below the horizon. (Solar zenith angle is 96&deg, solar elevation
angle is -6&deg.) See also

D

Daylight Saving Time - Many countries have instituted a clock change over
the summer months to save energy. By moving sunset closer to the time when most
people go to bed, an hour's worth of electricity for lighting can be conserved.
In the U.S., except for Arizona, Hawaii and part of Indiana, daylight saving time
begins at 2:00 AM on the first Sunday of April,
and ends at 2:00 AM on the last Sunday of October. See Saving Time, Saving Energy
by the California Energy Commission for further information.
Click here for a list of sites
with more daylight saving time information.
declination - along with right ascension, a
measure of celestial position. Declination is analogous to latitude on
Earth's surface, and measures an angular displacement north or south from the
projection of Earth's equator on the celestial
sphere to the location of a celestial body. See Celestial Sphere Figure.

E

ecliptic plane - the imaginary plane defined by the projection of
Earth's orbit (the path the Earth follows around the sun) onto thecelestial sphere. See Ecliptic Figure.
elevation - see azimuth and elevation. Electromagnetic Spectrum
Figure.
equation of time - an astronomical term accounting
for changes in the time of solar noon for a given location over the course of
a year. Earth's elliptical orbit and Kepler's law of equal areas in equal times
are the culprits behind this phenomenon. Click here
to see a plot of the equation of time vs. day of the year. For more
information on this phenomenon, see
this offsite Analemma page. equinox - the time when the sun's path crosses
earth's equatorial plane, or when the sun's declination is 0°. In the northern
hemisphere, the vernal equinox, which occurs on or around 21 March,
signals the start of spring. The autumnal equinox, around
22 September, is recognized as the beginning of fall (autumn).
electromagnetic spectrum - the scientific name for the full range of
wave radiation, from cosmic rays through UV, visible light, infrared, on to
radio waves and beyond. See

G

Greenwich Mean Time - world standard time
implemented in Greenwich, England, in the 1840s. GMT, which is based on
earth's motion, was succeeded by Universal Coordinated Time (UTC) in 1972.
Gregorian Calendar - in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII reformed the Julian calendar to improve the accuracy.
The current scheme for leap years was introduced,
and 04 October 1542 (Julian calendar) was immediately followed by 15
October 1542 (Gregorian calendar) to correct for past errors. For
consistency, and to avoid having a 10-day discontinuity, astronomers
extrapolate the Gregorian calendar backward when dealing with historical
dates.
For more information, read the Gregorian
Calendar page from Rice University.

I

international date line - roughly follows the
meridian at 180&deg longitude. This is the line that separates
today from tomorrow. When it is Saturday in New Zealand, it is still
Friday in Hawaii. This is because New Zealand is twelve hours ahead ofGreenwich Mean Time, and Hawaii is eleven hours behind GMT.
(See time zone.)

J

Julian Calendar - calendar established by Julius Caesar in 46 BC,
setting the number of days in a year at 365, except for leap years which
have 366. This calendar was reformed by Pope Gregory XIII into the Gregorian calendar.
Julian day - a time period used in astronomical
circles, defined as the number of days since 1 January, 4713 BCE (Before Common
Era), with the first day defined as Julian day zero. The Julian day begins
at noon UTC. Some scientists use the term julian day to mean the numerical day of
the current year, where January 1 is defined as day 001.

L

latitude - an angular measurement of north-south location on
Earth's surface.
Latitude ranges from 90&deg south (at the south pole), through 0&deg
(all along the equator), to 90&deg north (at the north pole).
Latitude is usually defined as a positive value in the northern hemisphere and
a negative value in the southern hemisphere. Click here for an in-depth
explanation of latitude and longitude from NASA. Click here for alist of sites to help determine your
latitude and longitude.
leap year - to account for the fact that it takes Earth 365.242196
days to orbit the sun, the Julian Calendar
implemented a system by which every fourth
year would have an extra day (366 instead of 365). These years are called
leap years. Later, the Gregorian Calendar improved this
correction by calling for every fourth year to
be a leap year, unless the year is divisible by 100. This corrects
the calendar to a year of 365.24 days, which is a good start but not perfect.
So there is another condition: if a year is divisible by 400, it is
a leap year. Therefore the year 1900 (divisible by 100, but not by 400)
was not a
leap year, but the year 2000 was a leap year.
light year - a measure of distance, not time.
Defined as the distance light travels in one year. Roughly equal to 5.88 trillion
miles (5,880,000,000,000 miles). This unit of linear measurement is used for stating
interstellar distances. For example, Proxima Centauri is 4.2 light years from
our solar system. longitude - an angular measurement of east-west
location on Earth's surface. Longitude is defined from the
prime meridian, which passes through Greenwich, England. The international
date line is defined around +/- 180&deg longitude. (180&deg east longitude
is the same as 180&deg west longitude, because there are 360&deg in a circle.)
Many astronomers define east longitude as positive. For our solar calculators,
we define west longitude to be positive. Click here for an in-depth
explanation of latitude and longitude from NASA. Click here for alist of sites to help determine your
latitude and longitude.
long wave radiation - another name for infra red radiation, or heat.
Found between 4 and 100 microns wavelength in theelectromagnetic spectrum.

M

magnetic north - Earth's magnetic north and
south poles are not located exactly at the rotational north and south poles. So
when your compass points north, chances are it is not pointing to
true north, but several (in the U.S., as many as 20) degrees off.
meridian - an imaginary line of longitude, stretching over Earth's
surface from the north pole to the south pole.
month - a month is based on a lunar cycle, the time
it takes for Earth's moon to complete one complete orbit of the Earth. The moon's
cycle is approximately 29.53059 days.

N

nautical twilight - the time of morning or evening when the sun is
12&deg below the horizon. (Solar zenith angle is 102&deg, solar elevation
angle is -12&deg.) See also civil twilight and astronomical twilight.

P

prime meridian - the imaginary line of longitude passing from the north pole to the south pole through Greenwich, England. The
prime meridian is defined as 0&deg longitude, and is the point for which UTC is defined.

R

radiation budget - a term used to refer to measurements of the solar
radiation (sunlight) coming in to the Earth's surface during the day, and the long wave (infra red) radiation that is radiated
from Earth's surface to space at night. Because energy can neither be created
nor destroyed, all incoming energy should be accounted for as outgoing
energy, unless the Earth itself is experiencing an increase in temperature.atmospheric refraction.)
right ascension - along with declination, a
means of defining the position of objects in space, referred to a known
point. Similar to the angular system used to define
latitudelongitude
on Earth's surface, right ascension is roughly analogous to longitude, and
defines an angular offset from the meridian of the vernal equinox. See Celestial Sphere Figure.
refraction - as light travels from one medium into a medium with
higher or lower density,
for example from air into water or from the vacuum of space into earth's
atmosphere, the path of the light is bent slightly.
This causes our legs to look shorter in a swimming pool, and allows us
to see the sun while it is still below the horizon. (See
and

S

short wave radiation - see visible.
sidereal time - is defined as the time elapsed
since the most recent meridian passage of the vernal
equinox. This system is based on the rotation of the Earth with respect to
the stars, instead of the sun. (See solar time.)
A sidereal day is slightly shorter than 24 hours (3 minutes 55.91 seconds
shorter). See Jim McDonald's excellent Sidereal
Time Page at the University of Connecticut for further explanation.
solar declination - the declination of
the sun. The solar declination varies from -23.44° at the (northern
hemisphere) winter solstice, through 0° at the
vernal equinox, to +23.44° at the summer solstice.
The variation in solar declination is the astronomical description of
the sun going south (in the northern hemisphere) for the winter. Click onSolar Declination Graph to see how the
solar declination varies over the year. See Solar Paths Figure to see the seasonal
solar paths projected on the celestial sphere. For a ground-based view
of the seasonal solar paths for different latitudes, see: 0° (the Equator), 23°N (the Tropic of Cancer), 40°N (Boulder, CO), 71°N (the Arctic Circle), and90° (the North Pole).
solar noon - (see also: solar time)
Defined for a given day for a specific longitude,
it is the time when the sun crosses the meridian
of the observer's location. At solar noon, a shadow cast by a vertical
pole will point either directly north or directly south, depending on the
observer's latitude and the time of year.
solar time - is defined as the time elapsed
since the most recent meridian passage of the sun. This system is based
on the rotation of the Earth with respect to
the sun. A mean solar day is defined as the time between
one solar noon and the next, averaged over the year.
solstice - is defined as the time of year
when the declination of the sun reaches a
minimum or maximum value. In the northern hemisphere, the summer solstice
occurs on or about 21 June, and the winter solstice occurs around 21 December.
The exact times of the solstices change from year to year.
speed of light - often considered a constant (3.0 x 10^8 m/s), the
speed that light travels depends on the medium through which it travels.
Light traveling through water goes slightly slower than through air or
through the vacuum of space.

T

time zone - longitudinally defined regions on the Earth that keep a
common time. A time zone generally spans 15&deg of longitude, and is
defined by its offset (in hours) from UTC. For example, Mountain Standard
Time (MST) in the US is 7 hours behind UTC (MST = UTC - 7). Click here for atable of time zones for world cities. true north - (see also:
magnetic north) the direction, along the surface of the Earth, toward the
point where Earth's imaginary axis of rotation intersects Earth's surface in the
northern hemisphere.

U

ultraviolet - the region of the electromagnetic
spectrum that falls outside of the visible,
just beyond violet. Defined in the scientific community as electromagnetic
radiation between 200 and 390 nanometers in wavelength.
Universal Coordinated Time - replaced GMT as
the world reference for time. UTC is based on atomic clock time, with
leap seconds added when necessary to match earth-motion time.
Many data sets collected around the world
are recorded with a UTC time stamp to avoid the confusion associated with
time zones and daylight saving time. For more information, straight from
the United States' official timekeepers, see the
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)World Time Scales.
For the correct UTC time, see NIST's Official
U.S. Time.

V

vernal equinox - the point on the celestial
sphere at which the plane of Earth's orbit crosses the plane of Earth's
equator, moving from south to north. This point defines zero hoursright ascension. See Ecliptic Figure.
visible light - the region of the electromagnetic
spectrum that is seen by the human eye. Defined by scientists as falling between
390 and 780 nm in wavelength. Visible light contains
all of the colors seen in a rainbow: violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange
and red. Also known, in scientific circles, as short wave radiation, because
the wavelengths involved are shorter than longwave
(infra red) radiation.

W

wavelength - simply, the length between consecutive peaks or troughs in
any wave. In electromagnetic radiation, wavelength defines the color of
light if it is visible, or the type of radiation
(infra-red, ultraviolet, etc.) if it is outside of the visible region of
the electromagnetic spectrum. Mathematically,
the wavelength times the frequency of the radiation (measured in cycles-per-second,
or Hertz) is equal to the speed of light.

Y

year - the amount of time it takes planet Earth to complete one full
orbit of the sun. A year is defined as 365.242196 days. Because a year is
not evenly divisible by a day, our calendar has corrections in the form ofleap years.

Z

zenith angle - an angular measurement from straight up (zenith) to
a point in the sky. Zenith angle can be used along with azimuth
to indicate the position of a star or other celestial body. Zenith angle
is the complementary angle of the elevation (elevation = 90° - zenith).
(See azimuth and elevation.) SeeAzimuth/Elevation/Zenith Figure.
The cosine
of the solar zenith angle is used to calculate the vertical component
of direct sunlight shining on a horizontal surface.